The present invention relates to fiber optic light transmission. In particular, the present invention relates to centering a core of a waveguide amplifier.
Optical fibers are a medium through which light signals can travel. Light signals can travel through optical fibers over long distances. However, as the distance increases, the light signal begins to experience a loss in optical power and intensity. To compensate for this loss, the diminished light signal can be amplified by a waveguide amplifier. The waveguide amplifier supplies energy to the light signal, increasing the optical power and intensity of the light signal. A second optical fiber positioned in alignment with the waveguide amplifier can then receive and transmit the reenergized light signal.
In order for the light amplification to be successful, a light transmission pathway in the optical fiber containing the diminished light (an input optical fiber) should be aligned with a light transmission pathway in a core of the waveguide amplifier. In turn, the light transmission pathway in the core of the waveguide amplifier should be aligned with a light transmission pathway in an optical fiber receiving the amplified light (an output optical fiber), forming a continuous light transmission pathway from the input optical fiber to the waveguide amplifier to the output optical fiber.
Typically, the input optical fiber, the waveguide amplifier and the output optical fiber are each mounted separately to a mounting base. A problem with this technique is that a movement by any of the three components can cause the light signal to be misaligned with the other components, thus diminishing the light signal or cutting off the light signal pathway.
The technique of mounting the three components separately is necessitated by the fact that the light transmission pathway in the core of the waveguide amplifier of the prior art is typically not centered within the waveguide amplifier. As a result, the input optical fiber is mounted independently from the waveguide amplifier so that the input optical fiber can be adjusted to align the light transmission pathway in the input optical fiber with the off-centered light transmission pathway in the core of the waveguide amplifier. In addition, the output optical fiber is mounted independently from the waveguide amplifier so that the output optical fiber can be adjusted to align the light transmission pathway in the output optical fiber with the off-centered light transmission pathway in the core of the waveguide amplifier.